well, panasonic GF3 is getting a workout on my f550 with naza. It is a great camera and great value. with firmware hack, the video mode is as good as anything available. its four third size sensor only 22% smaller than nex-5n sensor, and used in many dslr.

anyway, I was testing my F550 with roll stabilization and tilt connected to the naza reg (roll servo had its own reg) and I got hit by glitches.

this basically reaffirm that you should never power the servo off regs that your multicopter depends on. lol. I did manage to land, but I was very nervous and I made record controlled descent. 8" props at 2.6kgm hexa load is still usable, but near the limit. I am waiting on the 9x45 from gemfans.

update on 4/25/12
well: I finally tracked down this issue, and it was motor to esc connection. I swapped the esc out, and it is no longer an issue. I've tested that esc on ground, and it still works, so I am assuming connector issue.

I finally got my gopro with sunex working well and fully focused. that was total pain to do. I finally used a street sign down the road to focus it in. just lot of iteration in 1080 mode to get it looking good in video . once that was done, 720 mode also looked good. I am using DJI 450 quad with 8" blade and naza. about as small as you can go and get great results in video

I've been doing lot of research into flight behavior and props on multicopter. Some just affirmed the old ideas and found some new ones.

This whole enterprise started with report of DJI 10" props breaking in air and trying to find alternative. Graupners are the best by all account and would have gotten the set, except for their current lack of availability precluded that for myself. So, I started testing props

The anecdotal evidence has always been to use light weight props, and this has always been old standby APC SF and EPP props. I've also had some hobby king 10x6 set on hand (they are very affordable) and purchased a set of 9x4.5 APC EP props. (figuring that they are similiar to graupner e props)

after testing, I find that APC EP props are not suitable for multicopter. they do work, but I could not get rid of wobble due to their weight. wobble was not big, but it existed in all condition and could not be tuned out. may be they would work better with slightly bigger motor, but not with stock DJI 920kv motor. also, I could not get 9x5 GWS 3bladed props to work well with naza. bit of wobble. could be due to balance issue as I could see at least 1 prop badly out of balance. (but again, 10x6 had at least as bad a balance on 1 prop and flew well) it is interesting, as gary had good luck with GWS and heavy loading. the motors do stay cool with gws 9x5. gary did have trouble getting rid of all vibration with gws, so not great...Continue Reading

well, I am finally happy with the new Slow Stick LG. bit heavier than my original ones from 6 years ago, but lot stiffer. The new gopro adapter and new 4.4" gimbal is designed to be able to mount KK (openaero firmware) or openCC board.

the budget 4.4 gimbal is designed to use micro servo using pushrod to give tilt only control at affordable package with the LG.

it will be available in my website.

Images

We've been busy with servo issues for last couple weeks, and that has delayed our product launches. I am almost done with the new Airplane/Slow Stick setup and should have sample pic this week. new heli LG system is almost ready for testing as well. (I am trying to make a sample this week as well) lot of work going on as we push for product release of multicopter gimbals. Should update my website this week as well with some products being offered.

For airplane, we are testing KK board to stabilize the plane instead of stabilizing the gimbal. I believe this may be a good option for many. KK board combined with happysunday's openaero firmware looks to work really well. I will be using nano version of the code with older HK-kk board and full version with my blackboard. I will also test openCC board with gimbal control later on as well using tilt only stabilization and dual stabilization using 2 axis belt driven airplane gimbals.

Heli LG system will use proven multicopter gimbals. it will be offered with nex5 sized gimbal for 50 sized and DSLR gimbal for 90sized. tilt only will have adjustable roll angle to give you lvl video while hovering. 50sized should be available in 2-3 weeks while 90size is still 1 month out. with gimbals already being tested, just the LG unit needs to be tested for strength and manufacturability.

as promised, I will release some of my old gcode file used to create some of my old camera mount. I am starting with the old APCAM seris for slow stick. It is released under GNU GPL for personal use only. not for commercial sale. I am also making available the SS LG file.

I will update this thread as time permits. I code most of mine straight into gcode instead of using DXF. so, check back regularly for complete set.

next is trex 450 LG setup (v1.2) which uses the apcam gimbal.

I used old eco 8 ball and ball link on the apcam gimbal, but just about any ball link can be used. I also used 1" diameter delrin with 1/2" hole to make the ball link joint.

as I have announced, I am back in business, but I will not be selling directly. My good friends at tppacks and dji-usa will be handling all my products for now. This is so that I can concentrate on developing my product line and produce best camera gimbal at affordable prices.

I have many ideas I want to working on, and as they become close to final product, I will have some beta testing opportunties for some people on new products. I will announce such opportunities here.

First items will be available for sale by 10th of Feb. These will include:

Gopro Gimbal in either Nose mount configuration or for DJI550 LG system.

he is also getting the latest LG system and parts to update his gimbals. he should have it by saturday. I also expect Gary to have his DJI-550 running. I will also be shipping couple test unit early next week as well.

I am trying to get enough testing on various platform before release, so we can have successful launch. If all go according to plan, nex5 gimbal should be available by second half of the month. I will also have Polecam adapter and Pan adapter should be available by this time..

My next project is the DSLR version of the gimbal which will have a deeper and wider yoke I believe this will require slightly heavier duty LG and roll assembly. I will need to test it thoroughly before I will be confident. target is 3lb camera load. (most DSLR with reasonable lens)

the 550 LG system can easily be adapted to other multicopters

Nex5 system is in final testing, and will be available. (this month) It is very simple to change from gopro to nex5 so if you prefer, you can also get it with both yoke.

with help of seismic, I am learning lot about various FCB and its foibles. Gary has been having pretty good result from Naza at least flying f450 and my gopro gimbal. I also have gotten some hoverfly Pro footage from Seismic using my nex5 gimbal on my crab folder testbed. (thanks seismic)

there are few things we need to do on servo setup that should improve things, but not bad for early test. we've been having some issues with openCC board with the gimbal control, so I will be looking at this issue this week. Seems like the state of gimbal control is bit of gamble. on the open sourced firmware, we will be giving feedback to the coders to see if they can make firmware fixes. I do believe as a community, we need to do our best to help out, but it also tells me that we need an affordable camera control board that we can setup specifically just for camera.

I will post more videos as I get more. Gary has been busy getting F450 setup perfected, and his latest videos are very encouraging. so pretty happy with how the gimbal is performing. I am making some minor changes for easier manufacturing and reliability, but overal, it is all set to go.

here is latest f450 video. Gary is running 5v on his servo, and going to try 7.4v next.

Since cat is out of the bag so to speak, I am back in to developing new product for Aerial Photo. First of them will be tested by gary goodrum and seismicwave. gary has the gopro version for his DJI being setup and seismic will soon have his nex5 version designed for the new folding quad that I posted here. I am working on the new leg system for the two gimbal, then I will add pan system as well. I will also be updating the Large DSLR gimbal, but still deciding on the roll. to keep it affordable, I may go top roll with belt drive, but yoke design is still in the running.

I am also updating the pole cam gimbals. The updated design will be for smaller DSLR that is so common these days, and premium put on lighter weight and affordability. There are good heavy duty pole cam gimbals available from other vendors, but nothing that is lighter for average AP professional that want to use the latest camera that offers excellent performance without the weight. I will have 2 and 3 axis version of polecam with open loop servo.

anyway, I will post more detail/pic as I get them finished.
current status : nex5/gopro nose and underleg mount system is almost out of design and being testted. will be available very soon.

I am making it so that it will be very easy to change between the gimbal from leg to nose setup. (need 2 piece adapter kit costing 10 bucks)
LG system will be very rigid and strong. it is 17 CNC'd part and will have some flexibility to mounting the gimbal.

Nex5 gimbal is designed to use the pancake lens. recommended total load of 1.5lb/600gm or under. The yoke depth will preclude usage of large/heavy lens. If you really want to fly the heaviest lens, you will need to get the DSLR version which will have deeper yoke and designed for heavier load.

well. 10mm version is fairly on its way, and I wanted to start a 5/8" boom version. so here it is start of the build. main plate with mount for battery/gimbal. it will use .25" fiberglass tube for the gimbal/main. I have do some work to make sure it works and is safely secured. I have some ideas to add extra security. tomorrow, I need to pick up some tube and make the battery mount and the gimbal. I will also need to mount the boom and motorplate/lg setup. with 15" boom (half the bar) you will end up with quad that is 20"x30" motor to motor. this will be setup for 12" blade and 4S5000 pack.

current weight is about 16oz. it is really heavy duty as I made it with 3/32" thick g-10. 3" long LG should give plenty of clearance for the nose mount camera gimbal. (and easy to make it longer) I can easily shave some weight. anyway, camera gimbals are next.

Images

well, I've decided that I want to concentrate on smaller folding quads/y6.(upto 2kg auw) I have a proto quadcopter flying with rectangular geometry and it flies like a dream with KK board. will be testing a folder out with uavx. I also have y6 built with kk, but it is bit harder to fly and orient. put it down hard due to loss of orientation. have to replace a shaft or two.

anyway, got the first frame cut. I want to build a pair of them. one with KK and the other with UAVX/roll/tilt stabilization.

Images

been working with UAVX and now I am prett happy with how it flies. (thanks Greg aka gke for the latest firmware) I will continue to work on this as my base platform. I really think UAVX could be a great setup with new ARM processor board and 10DOF from drotek or one from canada (can't remember the name, but was selling for 75 bucks) MBED being 60 plus some form of shield requirement makes it bit tough. really need ready to go board that cost about under 50 bucks without needing extra board (similiar to seeeduino mega) current UAVX at 40mhz is usable and decent board, but getting old.

anyway, spent some time compiling the list of available fcb with features, as my desired features are : acc/gyro, good alt hold and camera stab. no real desire for GPS/Mag sensor as all my flying will be relatively close. (and from what I've seen, GPS is still not really reliable on most units)

AD-50q: (foxtech) acc/gyro+ camera stab about 160 USD. just came out. no real field result available. closed firmware

been flying HK-KK setup for a while now and been really happy with v4.7. so, I started to build my new AP rig.

I really need to build a good camera mount for this use, but I have adapted what I have, which will be good enough for taking stills and hopefully fixed video. it is bit flimsy for my taste. still, it will get me going and allow me to test the new frame.

so far, weight is at 480 gm with FCB and some wires. motor esc should add about 450gm. so lets call it even 1kg plus batter and camera. 1.5-1.7kg auw. so far so good.

I will need to design a new camera gimbal. probably with belt driven tilt for this one. I may add belt driven roll as well if I am willing to add bit more weight. we will see. once design is proven, I will cut it out of CF for that added rigidity.

Images

after running AskmanAP for 5 years, working 2 jobs without time off took its toll on my health and marriage. I was facing high blood pressure, chronic fatigue as well as nasty gastro intenstinal disease as I gained lot of weight during this time. The final straw was issues I was facing with my family life, and I had to stop the ever speeding wheel I was on.

I really want to issue a formal apologies to all the customers that supported me during the years. My life was so bad, I had to walk away from the business to salvage the rest of my life.

fast forward 3 years.

I am back down to healthy weight (and looking to get down to 10% body fat), my family life is back on solid footing and I am healthy again. I am slowly getting back my interest in the RC - multi rotor, but really no desire to go back into the business. I will be posting all my old G-code used to cut the mount and put it into public domain. Sorry I don't have any DXFs as I designed them all in my head and hand programmed into Gcode.

It is good to be back. and I beg forgiveness of everyone and thank those who cared abut me.

you can build a tricopter using ap2000i and 3 gyro. attached is the picture of how it is wired up. check it out. I am building on using cdp4 and y-ufo board, but it will have to wait until I am done with all other projects. (too many) my DF based quadrocopter is flying and well. the frame is available . it is usable with UVAP board as well as mikrokopter board. it is setup with epp1245 prop (which is having some durability issues from others) but can lift heavy load. with well tested 1045, it will still lift over 1lb payload with 10min flight.

I've done some lift test with 1245/DT750 motor setup. my setup without battery is 35oz. I've tested today at 67oz and 84 oz total weight. at 67oz, it flys very smooth and nicely very easy flying and feels very steady even in wind on my DF setup with gain at 50k. At 84oz, it feels heavy and definitely need more tuning. feels like driving a overloaded truck. I will limit my weight to 70 oz or so, which will give me 35 oz of load. my new miniHD gimbal weighs in at 4oz, so that gives me 31 oz. 3S4800 pack weighs about 400gm (14oz) that leaves me 17oz and over 10 min flight time. MiniHD gimbal can carry any camera upto 5" wide by 3.5" tall. (canon a640 size) typical downlink and OSD/GPS adds about 5oz, leaving us 10-12 oz for a nice camera. I am running Panasonic Lumix FX35, which weighs in at 5oz, which put me at 65oz total weight. I am also finishing up my UVAP setup. the...Continue Reading

this one has been troublesome, but finally I am getting close to completion. here is basic framework. the servos and camera mounting plate has to be mounted still, but overall, basic frame is done. dual belt driven setup makes for smooth pano polecam. making it adjustable while rigid was not easy, but it is done. another project being finished up finally. I have logo 600 nosecam to finish up still.